More notes and such

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I’ve got some longer things that I’m working on, but they require quotes from a bunch of people that I haven’t been quite able to track down. So for now, more quick hits. I swear I’ll have more cohesive things soon:

– I had previously reported that Chuck James has a sweet beard, but it turns out that I mistook Garrett Olson for James, and Olson is the one with the sweet beard. Chuck James also has a beard, but it is less sweet. Adjust your depth charts accordingly.

– Wilmer Flores played DH for the intrasquad game, but I’ve seen him working at both second and third in camp. He spent some time working one-on-one with a coach this morning on a series of drills that seemed aimed to improve his hands.

– I’m obviously no scout, but Mike Baxter has a nice arm in right. Also, he has better Minor League numbers than fellow lefty-hitting bench candidate Adam Loewen. I’d guess the best case to be made for Loewen is the one I’ve made here: That Loewen is still improving since becoming a full-time position player. But obviously that battle has a lot of time to play out, and it seems like the type of spot that the Mets might easily try to fill with a guy who gets cut elsewhere.

– Baxter made a diving catch in right while I was writing that last note.

– Cesar Puello walked twice in his first three plate appearances in the intrasquad game. He walked 18 times in 488 plate appearances in St. Lucie in 2011.

– I’m pretty sure I heard Ike Davis refer to Ruben Tejada as “El Niño” during a drill. I will never hear that without thinking of this:

 

Johan Santana does stuff

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Johan Santana threw live batting practice at Field 7 in Port St. Lucie this morning. He looked like Johan Santana: Shimmying on the mound, throwing fastballs and changeups and sliders, inducing pop-ups, shouting and smiling.

He said afterward that he wasn’t worried about his velocity or the results so much as the way his arm felt in his second simulated inning of work, and that it felt good. Terry Collins said Santana needs to fine-tune his command and find consistency with his pitches, and that the main goal he has for the one-time ace this spring is to make it to April healthy.

And everyone seemed to emphasize that the most important thing will be how Santana feels tomorrow. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.

I suspect there’s a good metaphor in there for the 2012 Mets’ season, what with the uncertainty everywhere, but my head aches from the sun and I’m going on short rest after podcasting last night. So someone else can take a stab at it. Or maybe it’s that simple: The most important thing is how it feels tomorrow.

Other stuff: We wondered on last week’s podcast why Justin Turner would be working as the Mets’ backup first baseman, what with all the natural first basemen already on their roster. Collins explained today: He thinks Lucas Duda has enough on his plate improving in right field to have to worry about backing up first base, and he wants Daniel Murphy working exclusively at second.

Collins added that when word came out about Ike Davis’ lung infection, the team started discussing other options for first if Davis had to miss the first month or two of the season. He suggested that in that scenario, Murphy would return to first, since the team has other options for the middle infield.

– Valentino Pascucci was playing for Tim Teufel in Caracas when Teufel was fired. Pascucci said that a few days after Teufel left, the team sent all its American players home, calling for a fresh start. Pascucci then joined Ken Oberkfell in Escogido in the Dominican Winter League.

– Manny Acosta drives this car. You would expect nothing less from one of the Top 5 most famous people in Panama. (Photo from Rob Castellano of Amazin’ Avenue.)

– Make of this what you will, but during batting practice Jason Bay hit several home runs to the space between the old left-field wall and the new one on the Citi Field replica Field 7. He also hit at least one clear over both and into the trees beyond.

Mets over-under

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Context: The Mets scored 718 runs in 2011, the most in their division and 50 more than the National League average. The team has lost Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, its two best offensive performers last season, but will benefit from the return of Ike Davis, the health of David Wright and a full season of Lucas Duda. Also, they moved the fences in.

[poll id=”72″]

Live Más

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Sometimes you just gotta kick up some dirt; make some waves; blaze some trails; burn up the night; be the first one to head out; and the last one to turn in; try what you’ve never tried before; make a play, and let it ride; because if you never do, you’ll never know. Sometimes you just gotta Live Más.

– Taco Bell.

It’s true: If you never cover a taco shell in Doritos stuff, you’ll just never know. LIVE F#@$ING MAS!

I’m going to shout that every time I do something stupid from here on out for the rest of my life. Just so you know. If someone streaks past you yelling, “Live más,” it’s probably me or someone else awesome.

Via Mike.

Half-formed thoughts from Port St. Lucie

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Just pretend I have some great excuse for not being able to put together a more cohesive post. In truth I’m not quite in the flow of things yet, and I’m a bit overwhelmed by the glut of baseball stuff going on.

So here are some quick observations from my first day here:

– Much has been made of the offseason facial-hair developments of Tim Byrdak and Dillon Gee, but there are a lot of great, less-heralded beards in camp. A group of four players walked past me on the way out to the field this morning and every one of them had a full beard: R.A. Dickey, Andres Torres, Ike Davis and Adam Loewen. Ramon Ramirez has a very neatly manicured chinstrap beard. Most guys seem to have something going. This could become a quietly great facial-hair team.

– It’s early yet and there’s plenty of time for the unexpected, but it looks like there are really only a couple of battles for roster spots in camp. They’re for the very fringes of the roster, too: Figuring Mike Nickeas, Ronny Cedeno, Justin Turner and Scott Hairston are set for the bench, Terry Collins will probably want a left-handed bat for that last spot. Mike Baxter’s the quasi-incumbent, but Adam Loewen’s beard is really sweet. Ben Berkon wondered yesterday if Loewen could be the Mets’ Jeremy Lin.

That’s unlikely, of course (since all Jeremy Lin stories inherently are), but I’ll add that Loewen has been steadily getting better since becoming a full-time position player in 2009. Part of the reason sudden, unexpected stardom seems especially unlikely in baseball is that baseball is so discretely measurable and individual compared to basketball. But maybe a converted pitcher like Loewen has the best chance for it. Still not something I’d bet on, but the beard plays.

– The other open battles, presumably, are for the last two spots in the bullpen after Frank Francisco, Ramirez, Jon Rauch, Tim Byrdak and Manny Acosta. Terry Collins said today that both D.J. Carrasco and Bobby Parnell have to make the team, so neither is assured a spot. Presumably the same goes for Pedro Beato. I’d bet lefty and snakebite badass Chuck James winds up making a run at a job. James also has a strong beard right now.

– Toby Hyde sent me the following photograph of Frank Francisco. I don’t know where he got it so I’m just going to assume it’s something he shot himself at his home studio. Also, get used to this photo because I’m probably going to use it every time I post about Frank Francisco this year:

I feel like Frank Francisco might have a very strong Kenny Powers thing going on.

– The Mets did a drill to work on communications on pop-ups. They were all very firm, but polite and deferential. When David Wright had to catch one near the mound, Tim Byrdak was all, “Watch out for Ike! Don’t run over Ike!”

– Something about Andres Torres looks like or otherwise reminds me of my old next-door neighbor, who is responsible for all of the most hilarious and dangerous things I have ever seen a 10-year-old do (or let a 10-year-old talk me into doing when I was 9). They include: Free-climbing the side of his house, dousing a dead basketball in kerosene then playing flaming soccer, making all sorts of flaming obstacles to jump over with our skateboards, and soaking the tips of Nerf arrows in lighter fluid and firing them up to play “Robin Hood.” Please do not try any of that at home.

– Reese Havens is hurt again, nursing a stiff back. LOLMets and everything, but seriously, that poor dude.

– I overheard a part of Jon Rauch’s conversation with Manny Acosta on their way out to the field. “So you’ve got to be one of the Top 5 most famous people in Panama, huh?” Rauch said. Acosta nodded.